


How Not To Destroy The Timeline, A Guide By Tony And Stephen Strange

by Tsukichii



Series: Time Issues [3]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man: Armored Adventures, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Kid Tony Stark, M/M, Teen Tony Stark, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, teen Stephen Strange
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2020-08-20 21:26:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20234629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsukichii/pseuds/Tsukichii
Summary: "Stephen was experiencing the pleasure of waking up and having a lazy morning with his husband once again. He was ecstatic, Stephen was not so happy since he got the message from Tony a few weeks ago.Now, seeing the lovely smile on Tony's pink lips, Stephen felt that the smile on his own face would be practically permanent at the rate that followed, but he honestly didn't care at all. The happiness was so great that his dark thoughts were simply overshadowed at that moment. "After finally reuniting, Tony and Stephen now have some challenges to overcome before they can be at peace.





	1. Peace

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
After a while, I'm finally posting the sequel! I didn't post before because I had a little dilemma as to the fate of this fic, but I eventually decided that I wasn't going to make several unconnected chapters, like a series of oneshots, but a timeline story.  
Ah, before I forget, there's a sexual innuendo in the chapter, but just to make it clear, I'm not going to write sex scenes between Stephen and Tony. Although Stephen is of legal age, Tony is fifteen here and I feel uncomfortable writing a sex scene with a minor. Maybe there will be more ahead when Tony is older, but the act itself had not happened so soon.  
Also, without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

Stephen Strange felt the light and light against his face and grunted, turning and hiding his face in the warm skin in front of him. The wizard sighs contentedly, smiling a little when he feels the body in his arms tremble and he hears a soft, soft laugh.

"I almost forgot that the great wizard was barely sensitive to light." Tony smiled and Stephen bit the skin in front of him in retaliation. The engineer yelped and Stephen felt his heart swell, he was so happy it hurt.

"I have no problem with the light, my love." Stephen whispered in his neck before kissing the slightly reddish nape of the neck in front of him, leaving teeth marks and kisses on the soft skin.

"I-I thought you would expect me to be of legal age, Mr. Doctor." Tony gasped, his neck had always been very sensitive, a weakness Stephen had no qualms about exploiting before and apparently not now.

"And I will," Stephen whispered, kissing the brunette's ear, smiling at the groan Stark let out. “you know, I wanted to take you now, to feel you, to see your lovely face all red” Stephen gasped in the ear of the smallest, smiling to feel the other shake “but I want to make it right, so I'll wait for you to be of age before violate you.”

At this Tony moved in Stephen's arms and turned, wrapping his arms around the wizard's neck and hiding his face, now red, in the other's chest.

“What if I asked? If I begged you to have me here and now?” Tony asked, looking into Stephen's stormy eyes.

"Don't get me wrong," Stephen whispered and with one swift motion he turned them over, top on Tony, between the brunette's legs “ it's not that I don't want to take you now, because no doubt, I want to.” so Stephen lays on top of the brunette, rubbing his groins, making Tony feel how much Stephen wants him at that moment. Tony whimpers and leans up, increasing the friction between them.

“Stephen, please- ngh-“ Tony sighs, wrapping his legs around Stephen's waist “I-I need ...”

"Calm down, my love," Stephen whispers, kissing Tony's forehead softly. "I want to do things right. I want it to be special this time.” Stephen spreads kisses on Tony’s face, enchanted by the soft laugh that the engineer let out. The excitement forgotten for a moment when Stephen kisses and caresses Tony's body lovingly “I want to court you properly.”

"You courted me properly before, you know." Tony grinned up at him, stroking his unruly black hair. "Then I'm not complaining if you do the same thing now."

"I was a complete idiot with you when we met, dear." Stephen arched an eyebrow with an amused smile on his lips.

"Oh come on, wasn't it fun to have an annoying Tony Stark on you when all you wanted was to push me off a cliff?" Tony laughed at the memory.

"More for a Tony Stark than my twenty-year-old self wanted to take to the nearest room and violate." Stephen laughed “But do not deny Tony, I was a real asshole at that time, could not enjoy the peaceful we had at that time.” Here Stephen tilted his head sadly to the side. "I couldn't court you properly, so would you leave me?" The magician took one of Tony's hands and raised it to his lips. "Would you let me court you properly in our new life?"

“I keep my opinion, you know, you courted me very well before, was very decent, I particularly liked.”

"Did you like the fact that I was an idiot with you when we met?"

"Well, to be honest, the twenty-five-year-old Tony Stark was a real douchebag, I can't blame you."

"Well, the twenty-year-old Stephen Strange was an asshole, because he couldn't love twenty-five-year-old Tony Stark properly. But you know, the Stephen Strange now loves the Anthony Strange in his arms and wants to court him properly.” Stephen shook the hand of Tony and took the other cheek of the smaller “I want to treat you like the king you are.”

Stephen looked at Tony with such love and affection that the brunette can only pull the wizard into a hug and hide his face in the chest of the taller.

“OK.”

Stephen smiled tenderly and kissed the engineer fondly.

The day before Stephen finally, finally, after all the pain and suffering they went through, reunited with his husband, Tony. After they cried in each other's arms, Stephen took Tony and put him on his lap in bride-like and carried him to the bedroom when he saw that the sky was already dark. They fell into bed, hugged and fell asleep.

Stephen was experiencing the pleasure of waking up and having a lazy morning with his husband once again. He was ecstatic, Stephen was not so happy since he received the message from Tony a few weeks ago.

Now, seeing the lovely smile on Tony's pink lips, Stephen felt that the smile on his own face would be practically permanent at the rate that followed, but he honestly didn't care at all. The happiness was so great that his dark thoughts were simply overshadowed at that moment.

“I love you.” Tony muttered and Stephen kissed him again because he could never just kiss him enough.

“I love you too, Anthony.” Stephen stepped back and smiled when Tony tried to grab him and pouted when he couldn't.

“Why are you walking away? I thought we were going to have a lazy morning and to have our lazy morning you gotta stay in bed and hold me, I miss our lazy mornings, it's been five years twelve months and a fortnight we haven't had our lazy mornings because you're stopping our lazy morning?”

"We're going to have our lazy morning, but," Stephen began, moving away from the bed, "let's get something to eat first. I bet you didn't eat anything yesterday.”

“I have not eaten anything since the afternoon before traveling, in fact, I was very eager to eat.” Tony admitted thoughtfully “In fact, now that I think about it, Jarvis was- Wah!” Tony exclaimed when, in a quick movement, Staphen got him out of bed and held him in his arms. “Stephen! Put me down!”

"No." Stephen stared at him seriously for a moment before he started walking with the stubborn engineer in his arms, ignoring his (cute) protests for Stephen to put him down. "If you really think I'm going to let you walk after you told me that you haven't eaten for almost two days, I'm sorry you don't really know me, love." Stephen raised an eyebrow and Tony had the decency to blush and hide his face in the neck of her husband.

"Sorry, but you know I'm a disaster without you." Tony muttered.

"I know, but you are my disaster, and I am here now to take care of you properly, my love." Stephen kisses the brunette's forehead and enters the kitchen, puts the other on a stool before kissing him tenderly on the lips. “What you want to eat?”

"Well," Tony started smiling, "I miss your pancakes."

“Pancakes, then.”

\-------

After Stephen prepared the food and served it, the two ate in peaceful silence.

“I missed your food.” Tony moaned in satisfaction as he finished eating and pushed his plate away.

"Glad to hear my cooking skills are still appreciated." Stephen gave a small smile.

Stephen picked up and set the dishes in the sink and Tony stood, stretching, before starting to walk into the living room. He took only a few steps and was stopped by a pair of strong arms that held him by the waist and pulled him, so Tony found himself in Stephen's arms again.

Tony arched an eyebrow.

“I can walk alone, Stephen.” Tony crossed his arms and faced the other.

"You are still weak, Anthony."

"I just ate, so I'm fine."

“You're not fine all of a sudden like that, not to mention your troublesome reactor, you need rest. ”Stephen snapped and the two stared at each other for a few seconds before Tony sighed.

“Stephen-“

"Please," Stephen interrupted, holding Tony in his arms. “let me do this?” Tony looked into the stormy eyes he loved so much and gave in (when didn't he give in to Stephen?), Wrapping his arms around the doctor's neck and hiding his face in his collarbone.

“OK.”

Stephen didn't answer, he just smiled and kissed the engineer's hair before walking back to the living room. The wizard sat on the couch and settled himself, adjusting Tony on his lap.

“What will we do now?” Tony asked after a moment of silence. “I mean, my plans so far have been basically to find Stephen or the magic cult, I haven't thought of that yet.” the brunette admitted.

"We have to be very careful about our actions here." Stephen began after a moment “I think we are on a new timeline, but it looks strangely like ours, having some differences, but the main events, such as you being kidnapped, for example, apparently continued.” Stephen pondered “Or we may be on our timeline, but the changes happened when we got here. There are actually many possibilities to study, all we can do now is speculate.” Stephen ended thoughtfully.

"Maybe the change wasn't in us, but in our family?" - Tony suggested “I mean, it wasn't just me that got younger, for example, my father is much younger, and it's not just him, my grandfather too, I remember when he died, he was in his seventies, here when he died he was much younger. There are other things, too, such as personality, but I think it was because of new life experiences.”

Not for the first time, Tony wondered if the fact that his father had met Steve Rogers in the circumstances he had met all those years ago had shaped him into the man Tony had learned to fear as a child.

“My parents too, they are younger. Victor is about the age I was in this same period in the past timeline and Donna is a child.”

"Can we be here now can explain these changes?"

"No." Stephen muttered. "I think we're in another universe ..." The wizard stopped for a moment.

“Stephen?” Tony looked worried when his doctor didn't answer.

"What do you remember when you came back?" Stephen finally asked, uncomfortable and not meeting Tony in the eyes.

Tony squirms in the wizard's lap until he turns and faces him. Stephen is not looking at him yet, but now the wizard has both hands on his waist.

“Stephen.” Tony calls, but the other keeps looking away from him. Tony narrows his eyes and puts his hands in Stephen's hair. His husband's hair was shorter and unruly, quite unlike the behaved style he wore before, but Tony didn't care, he liked the long bangs and the rebel strands on the back of his head, if he was honest, it was great to grab and pull Stephen where he wants him. And that's what the brunette does, holding the unruly hair tightly in his fingers, Tony pulls until Stephen is staring at him. "If you think I blame you for something, then you really don't know me, honey."

“You should.” Stephen muttered, wincing as Tony pulled his hair back in retaliation.

"Don't you dare blame yourself for something that's not your fault, Stephen Strange."

"It's not my fault until you see it, it's totally my fault."

“As your husband I forbid it.”

"You can't change the past, Tony, you can't change what I did." Stephen whispers sadly “I killed you and there's nothing you can do about it.”

“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” Tony sighs, holding Stephen's hair tightly. "I knew I was going to die, you idiot. I was sure I was going to die on Titan, you only gave me five more years to spend with our daughter.” The engineer gives a small smile to his stubborn magician doctor “And I just have to thank you for that.”

"Are you thanking me for killing you?" Stephen asked incredulously.

"No, idiot, I'm thanking you for giving me time to stay with our daughter." Then Tony pulled Stephen down and kissed him, trying to convey all the love he felt for him “Do not blame yourself, please, you know I would not have done any other way, all stayed alive in the end and if for that I had to die, well, to hell, I was more than willing to accept that consequence.” Tony mumbles as they part. "The only thing I regret, actually, and having missed your first date with Morgan, she was looking forward to meeting you and Peter." Tony gives a sad little smile.

"I couldn't find her," Stephen muttered, looking into Tony's brown eyes. "I ..." He stops for a moment, swallowing hard, his eyes burning. "I was very broken after you died." I couldn't face any of our children, I'm sorry, I-“

"No, don't you dare apologize," Tony cut him off. "It wasn't your fault, and if you want to blame someone, blame that damn Thanos, okay?" Tony narrows his eyes and pulls Stephen's hair again when he doesn't answer “Ok?” He insists.

"Okay," Stephen confirmed with a small smile on his lips.

“Good” Tony mumbles with a small smile “an idiot told me that it's not good to be brooding over things that are not his fault, is good advice I heard years ago, worked for me, I think it can work for you too.”

“Good advice, really.” Stephen gave a slight laugh, he was still upset about everything that had happened before, but he was infinitely better now that he knew that Tony did not blame him, as much as he felt he deserved the blame.

“Okay, now back to your question, I do not remember anything. I mean, I remember snapping my fingers and a flash, then nothing more.” Tony murmured thoughtfully. "Do you remember anything when you came back?"

“No, I ... I left shortly after your funeral. It was a blur to me after the battle.” Stephen muttered against Tony's hair and the brunette did not insist.

He knew that the battle against Thanos is a very complicated affair between them, especially for Stephen, but Tony didn't worry much about it. No matter what he wanted to do now, he had to put the matter aside and focus on the problem before him.

He now had plenty of time to put in his husband's head that was not his fault.

“Okay. What do we do now?”

"I thought I'd talk to the Ancient One, but your classes will start next week and I honestly don't want to leave your side now, so I have to postpone the trip to New York, however not recommended is it, given our situation. And I imagine if you left Boston without warning anyone, your parents would freak out.”

"Well, you're not wrong," Tony muttered. If he disappeared without warning anyone, his parents would go crazy. “ But why New York?” Tony arched an eyebrow.

"Yes, I can try talking to someone from the sanctuary and from there and then going to the Ancient One. Even if they don't believe me, the fact that I am trained in the ways of Karmar Taj is enough to draw the attention of the sorcerers.” Stephen confirmed.

"We have to go to New York then ..." Tony grunted, placing his hand on his chin thoughtfully. “Ah!”

“Hmm?” Stephen asked when Tony pulled him by the hair (Stephen would not complain, he kind of liked) to face him. When the wizard saw the bright brown eyes, he felt a chill run through his body. “W-what?” He stammered.

"My parents live in New York, we can go before school starts with the excuse that you're my boyfriend and I want to introduce you to them! Done, an perfect excuse to go to New York without anyone freaking out.” Tony smiled, nodding to himself.

\- Excuse me?!

Suddenly Stephen felt his body tremble and raw horror seize him. Howard and Maria Stark. He was going to meet Howard and Maria Stark. His boyfriend / husband's parents.

Stephen wanted to die.


	2. Nightmares can't keep your kids away forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony tries to explain why Stephen should meet his parents, they hug, Tony suffers a little (because why not) and there is a surprise at the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
I could give a thousand and one apology for the delay (almost a year, I know; -;), but honestly, I needed to write this chapter, because it is important for the story, but he did not want to leave, I remade it some 10 times before I'm satisfied, and it's still not my best job, but anyway.  
I've already started writing the next chapter, taking advantage of the fact that I'm quarantined in isolation from everyone because I'm sick (and I'm just a suspect, but I'm isolated in the same way), he should leave soon /
> 
> Warning: corpses and a lot of hugs

After Stephen arrived and they went to live together (because there was no chance in hell that they would break up after all, thank you very much, universe), they got into a routine, they would wake up, Stephen would cook breakfast for them (because Tony was lazy and hated to wake up early), so Tony would work on updates to his suit and J.A.R.V.I.S. and Stephen would meditate, trying to gather his magic core, which was completely dispersed.

(He didn't know if it was because of his current age or what happened to them, why they were now, at that time at that age, but Stephen will find out, he just wanted the Ancient One to be there to advise him.)

“Why do we need to meet your parents next month? We can just go to New York, you haven't even called them yet, it's completely unnecessary.” Stephen Stange spoke in a monotonous tone, sitting cross-legged on the couch of his boyfriend (husband's) apartment trying to meditate to find his magic nucleus, as he has been doing since he woke up in the past.

Tony Stark (Strange), who was sitting next to him, uttered a grunt that was much like a barely concealed laugh as he quickly typed lines and lines of code that left Stephen with a headache just thinking about it.

(He is a genius, thank you very much, but only the glimpses of the numbers that he knew were the start of the code for an Iron Man armor update left him with a headache)

“And why not? And I can always call my parents and let them know, I bet my mom would love to meet you.” Tony asked, without looking away from the data in front of him.

“We don't need to see them to be in New York, our classes start this week, but we can give the excuse that there was a family emergency and leave.”

“The semester has just started,” Tony raised an eyebrow, amused, without taking his eyes off his work “and to use the excuse of "family emergency" we have to warn our parents, I thought that was what you didn't want?”

“That never stopped you before sir "I'm Tony Fucking Stark and I do what I want".” Stephen grunted with a sullen sigh before uncrossing his legs, giving up meditation.

He doesn't even know why he tried, knowing he wasn't going to get anything now. It was the same moment when Tony laughed and put his notebook on the coffee table, before turning to Stephen with a soft and genuine smile and Stephen knew he couldn't be angry with the beautiful creature in front of him.

“Sorry honey, but you know I promised my parents that I would visit them whenever I was in New York.” Tony gives the sorcerer an apologetic smile before approaching him and snuggling against his firm chest with a contented sigh. “Especially after what happened, I had to beg to be able to go back to college, because my parents didn't want to keep me out of their sight.”

Stephen sighs, before hugging Tony and pulling him closer.

“I wouldn't leave you either, if you want to know,” the sorcerer looks at his husband with a loving smile “I'm still thinking about how I'm going to endure being so far away from you, since we studied at different universities.”

“Oh no, my boyfriend is _so_ possessive.” Tony sighs dramatically with an amused laugh and Stephen growls and practically pulls him onto his lap, laughing all the time.

“We've been married for almost twenty years, did you notice that _now_?”

“Nah, I've known since that party that Justin Hammer tried to hit on me and you shot him with your eyes.” Tony spoke with an amused sparkle in his eyes “It's a great feature for a boyfriend, right? My parents will love you, especially when they see you are jealous- sorry, sorry, _protector_.”

Stephen groaned, letting his head fall on the teenager's shoulder in his lap with an amused smile.

“You just want to see me suffer.”

“Of course not, I just want to introduce my super amazing boyfriend to my parents, what's the problem?” And it was at that moment that, even under layers and layers of fun and sarcasm, Stephen could hear Tony's voice waver.

He narrowed his eyes before squeezing the other's waist in a loose embrace, and pulling his head away from the brunette's neck, looking him in the eye and seeing the uncertainty there.

They looked at each other and Stephen sighed, before kissing the brunette's forehead affectionately.

“You know I don't care about meeting your parents, Tony, if it makes you happy I am happy, but you had never asked so much of me before to meet your family, so why now?“ Stephen asked and Tony was silent, all the fun was gone from his face and now his eyes had a tired and destroyed glow that Stephen used to see before, especially when his husband became involved with the Avengers.

The doctor, however, did not insist after the other's sudden silence, just pulled him closer and hugged him tighter, squeezing his waist, waiting patiently for an answer from the other.

When Stephen saw his husband's eyes shine with unshed tears, with an expression that grew increasingly sad and desperate, Tony buried his face in the curve of his neck before Stephen could do anything to console him.

Then Stark murmured shakily against his skin.

“The last time my parents hated me and when we were together, Jarvis had died and Aunt Peggy was already old and barely remembered me, and I just ...” He stops for a moment, lifting his face and staring at the wall with eyes empty, before sighing “I wanted to introduce you to ... A family this time, not only to my only three friends that I consider family and my AI, I want to introduce you to my parents, and-“ the brunette stops and doesn't he continues, burying his face again in Stephen's neck, seeking comfort.

His parents had always been a sore point for him, because all he ever wanted was their approval and he never got it and now that he won a second chance in life with Stephen, with parents who love and support him, he often he didn't know what to do with the hot feelings that welled up in his chest, especially if they had to do with his parents.

Like now.

He didn't know what to do with these parents who support him, who love him, who care about him, who care for him, he never had that before, not Howard or Maria Stark.

Luckily, Tony was with the only other human being who knew all his parts, the ugly and the good.

The future doctor hugged Tony tighter before supporting his hands on the other's ass and back and then getting up with a grunt, Tony now tightening his legs around his waist, not loosening his grip under Stephen.

With a sigh, Stephen started walking towards their room (it was actually Tony's room, but the brunette insisted that it was now their room, because he wouldn't sleep in another place if it weren't for Stephen.)

Despite carrying a fifteen-year-old, Tony was terribly light for his age (it was something that accompanied Tony from the other dimension, apparently),

so it was not at all difficult to take the young man on his lap and lay him on the bed, before going to bed too and the engineer curling up in him like an octopus.

The two said nothing and lay in bed, with Stephen stroking Tony's hair and back until the brunette fell asleep.

\----

Maybe it was the fact that he remembered about his parents in his old life, or maybe it was the fact that he remembered, besides his parents, his friends, everything that happened in his old life.

Or maybe it was the fact that his brain insisted on showing him earlier, when the magician stared at him, in place of his Stephen, young, without scars was his Stephen from that life, old, with his hands destroyed, looking at him with such despair as he turned to dust in his arms on Titan.

Or maybe it was fate deciding that she wanted to fuck him again, but that night, neither Stephen's presence can banish his nightmares.

\----

Tony was in a dark place, there was a kind of black liquid that reached his ankles and all he could see in front of him was more darkness.

The brunette started walking, lost in the sea of darkness he was in before he started to hear a whisper in his ear.

_"Why didn't you save me?"_

And he turned quickly, trying to see who was there, only to see only the vast darkness.

_"Come on, **hero**, why didn't you save me?"_

The voice comes this time from his right and Tony turns around, trying to find it, only to see nothing again.

_"What? Oh, do you have no answer to your crimes? ”_

Again, the voice came from behind him and Tony turned, only to stumble, in shock. This time, there was an obscene pile of corpses in front of him, staining the dark water red.

Bodies, various bodies, men, women, soldiers, children-

_“Come on, Tony, we're a **team**, aren't we? Why do not you answer me?"_

There, on top of the pile was Natasha, her neck bent at an odd angle, blood dripping from her lips, white, empty eyes.

Dead.

_"The cat ate your tongue?"_

Tony took a step back, to stay away from the corpse in front of him (Natasha, dead_dead**dead**_\--), but then, small hands came out of the water and grabbed his ankles and his arms and he was trapped.

_“Why didn't you do **more**? "_

_“Aren't you a **hero**? "_

_“What kind of hero goes away with his husband and leaves the world without defenses? "_

_“You selfish. "_

So it wasn't just Natasha's accusing voice speaking, there were several others, acquaintances, friends, screaming and Tony couldn't get out, he closed his eyes in despair, trying not to smell the rotten smell around him, trying not to hear the accusing voices .

_"Why did you let me **die**?"_

So it was Peter's voice and when Tony was forced to open his eyes, he whimpered, seeing the corpse decomposed inside the Iron Spider suit, the rotten hands covered with technology started to scratch his arms when the corpse threw himself on him, his lifeless white eyes staring at him.

_"You let me die."_

“N-no ...” Tony whispered, terrified, trying to get away, when he felt a weight on his back and felt bony and cadaverous hands clutching his chest.

_"You abandoned us, ran away and abandoned us."_

Tony whimpered and closed his eyes, feeling Harley's rotten breath on his neck, he tried to break free, but his body was paralyzed.

_"You **abandoned** us."_

Tony tried to move his hand in despair, but it didn't move.

_"You **failed**."_

_"I died because of **you**."_

** _"Killer."_ **

** **

** _"Selfish."_ **

** **

** _"Failure."_ **

** **

** _"Disappointment."_ **

Tony closed his eyes, trying to stop the tears from running into his eyes (he was a Stark, Starks were made of iron _madeofiron**madeofiron**_-), trying to ignore his children's accusatory and cutting words when he felt a soft touch and suddenly Tony was no longer surrounded by corpses, he was lying on his bed with Stephen looking at him with concern.

“Anthony, you-“ the wizard stopped when the young engineer threw himself into his arms, sobbing and with tears streaming from his brown eyes “it's okay, my love, it's okay, I'm here with you.” Stephen hugged him tightly, whispering words of comfort in his ear.

\-----

“I need to go back to work” Tony murmured in Stephen's chest, after his tears dried up, it was possible to see through the big bedroom window the morning sun appearing on the horizon “I need to perfect my armor, we are defenseless, and if Thanos came back too ? What if he is coming to earth now?”

Stephen was silent, holding Tony tighter. He wanted to keep his husband safe in his arms and in bed for the rest of the day, but he knew Tony, he knew he wouldn't be at peace until he got it out of his system.

“Want to go to the lab?” He asked softly and Tony nodded in his chest before getting up and offering his hand timidly to Stephen.

“Will you come with me, please?”

Stephen smiled and stood up, holding Tony's hand and interlacing his fingers.

“Always.”

\----

The laboratory was quiet, only the soft sound of Tony's fingers on the keyboard echoing through the quiet room.

“Do you think our kids are back too?” Tony asked after a while, looking away from the computer in front of him and turning to Stephen, who was sitting on a couch, looking at him with a soft glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Stephen looks at him for a moment, before looking away.

(He knows he's going to destroy his husband's hopes, he knows, but he doesn't have the heart to lie to Tony. _Never to Tony_.)

“I don't know, we don't know if anyone else has returned or will return.” Stephen spoke after a while, softly.

He watched all the careful hope that Tony had died in his eyes and he swallowed his tears and felt his heart break along with that of the engineer.

“So they're ... Away?” he murmured (_far away, not dead, never dead_) in a sad and desperate tone and Stephen practically materialized by his side, pulling him into a comforting hug.

“Hey baby, it's going to be okay.” Stephen whispered, pulling the brunette gently to the sofa and held him in a tight hug.

“I want our sons” Tony murmured in Stephen's chest “I miss them”

“We will have them again, you will have them again.” Stephen whispered, holding the brunette in his arms tighter.

He knew he was practically throwing words to Tony (he also knew that the other knew it too), but, deep in his heart, he hoped they would pass on their children again.

\----

“I miss mommy” a girl whispered miserably to her older brother, her brown eyes shining with tears “I miss mommy, daddy, ‘Ley, Levi, everyone.” she cried and not even her brother's loving hands in her brown hair was comfort enough “I want mommy.”

“I know Morguna, I know” his brother whispered, his brown eyes very hard and serious for a six year old “we will see everyone again, you will see.” he promised, decided “And when we meet mommy, we-“ he stopped talking when his aunt's voice screamed for them.

“Peter, Morgan, come and eat!”

“We’re coming!” Peter Strange shouted back and then stood up and pulled his sister, Morgan Strange, by the hand - Come on, you'll feel better after eating, Morguna.

The child sniffed and let his older brother take him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to address Tony's fears in this chapter, as I approached Stephen's fears in the other, in order to develop them better (although I think it was a little bad), what do you think?
> 
> A little spoiler from the next chapter, the title is "A moment in time"

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to put a little fluffy, because I didn't explore Stephen and Tony's reunion very well before, so ...
> 
> No more, see you next time!


End file.
